Book #24: The City of Bones

I just finished reading Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, the first in the Mortal Instrument series. 
I was very skeptical of this book to begin with. The only real reason that I picked it up was because it was 99 cents at the nook online store. I had feared that it would be a vampire novel with a bunch of cushy romance dumped into it.
The book is about a girl named Clary, who is brought up by her mother, Jocelyn, and her mother's best friend, Luke. After her mother disappears, Clary finds out that her mother was a Shadowhunter, someone who fights and kills demons. Clary is thrust into this world with vampires and werewolves, all while having to deal with the sarcastic and hurtfully honest Jace, while trying to maintain her  friendship with her long time friend, Simon. Eventually Clary finds out her father, Valentine, wants to rid the world of half-demon-half-humans (like werewolves and vampires) and create more and more Shadowhunters, which doesn't seem like a bad thing until you discover that he's going to kill all of the werewolves and vampires alike.
The reason that it took me so long to finish this book was just because it was very slow. It took a really long time just to begin the story, though I have to say that the ending was very good and very intense.  My main problem, I think, was the fact that it just wasn't very original. The fact that Clary and Jace find out that they are brother and sister, with the evil Valentine as their father, is just like Star Wars. The fact that Valentine wants to rid the world of half breeds is just like Voldemort in Harry Potter.  I think that the main protagonist, Clary, just wasn't that smart. When in fight scenes, she just stands there frightened and frozen, and doesn't really do anything, while letting Jace do all of the fighting. Also, there were times when the plot was so fast, that I never really got much of a break, going from battle to battle, and it just became very tedious with so many fights in the middle.
I don't think that it was all bad though.  I really liked the way Cassandra Clare described Simon. I like his character overall, and I think that he's the best character of them all. Luke, my second favorite, was a fatherly figure for Clary, and he was a nice character. I did like Clare's writing most of the time. The way she described things was thorough, yet not repetitive. I just think that the main problem was with the plot.
So I would give City of Bones about a 3 out of 5. It was ok, but I don't think that I'll continue reading the rest of the series.